Israel
The flag of Israel has a white background, with two blue horizontal stripes near the top and bottom of the flag, with a Shield of David (also called the "Star of David") in between the two stripes. The flag hoist is the length of the flag. History Prior To The State Of Israel Before Israel declared its independence, the flag was in use by the Jewish residents of Israel, then Palestine, and the World Zionist Organization as the flag of the Jews. according to tradition, the flag is based on the Jewish "Talit" (a shawl used in prayer in the synagogue, which is white with either black or blue stripes on the edges), with a Star of David in the middle, as proposed by David Wolffsohn. However, the flag was in use Long before the Jewish congress picked the Zionist flag. The first to suggest the colors of the Jews was the Austrian Jewish poet Ludwig August von Frankl in his poem "Judah's Colours", the selection of White and "Tekhelet", a light shade of blue mentioned numerously in the Old Testament, originates from a commandment given to the Israelites while in the desert to dye their Taliot Tekheiet. The flag in its current form was conceived by several people in different locations throughout the 19th century, and similar versions of the flag were used on several special occasions, such as the three year anniversary of the foundation of Rishon LeZion in 1885, and in Ness Ziona and Boston in 1891. In the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel in 1897, a vote was held to chose a flag for the Zionist movement, and the stripes and Star of David flag, suggested by David Wolffsohn, was selected, while Theodor Herzl's suggestion, the white flag with the seven gold stars, was rejected. After it was chosen, the flag was used by the Jews in Israel and by the Jewish Brigade Group in the British army alongside the Union jack. also, during Israel's declaration of Independence, the flag decorated the walls behind the speakers' table. In The State Of Israel when the state of Israel was founded, the Provisional State Council formed the Flag And Symbol Committee, in charge of selecting the country's symbols. The committee received numerous suggestions for the flag, most of which based on the Zionist flag of minor changes, such as the adding of yellow stars, to mark the Yellow badge as a memorial for the victims of the Holocaust, and a lion cub, which symbolized several Jewish leaders as well as the city of Jerusalem. eventually the committee picked a flag built of two thick horizontal blue lines on a white background with the seven gold stars, suggested by Oteh Walisch, as their choice. However, despite the committee's choice the Zionist flag was selected as the flag of the new country, mostly because of the flag's popularity in the general public. Eventually the flag in it's current form was officially declared as the flag of Israel after a vote in the Knesset in May 24, 1949. Symbolism The blue stripes are taken from the Bible, in Numbers 15:37-41, The blue stripes from those verses are used on the flag of Israel and the Jewish tallith. The Shield of David is a symbol of both the Jews and Israel. References * [http://www.flagspot.net/flags/il.html Israel at Flags of the World] Category:White background Category:Asia Category:Proportions 8-11 Category:Israel Category:Six-pointed stars